Diverse line-up of speakers at 2023 edition of Hinterland this weekend in Kells
Kells is gearing up to welcome some of the world’s finest writers as the Hinterland Festival gets underway this weekend. Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Ford is the pick of a crop of internationally renowned authors making the pilgrimage to the heritage town for a four-day festival of wildly varied events. Alongside Ford, a giant of American literature, the programme features the ‘godfather of modern poetry’ Liverpudlian Roger McGough; Irish novelists Joseph O’Connor and John Boyne, and crime fiction queens Liz Nugent and Jane Casey.
The programme boasts a diverse range of topics and contributors such as Riverdance composer Bill Whelan, veteran reporter Tommie Gorman, meteorologist Gerry Murphy, hurler Zak Moradi on his journey from Iraq to Croke Park and money saving mentor Santis O’Garro. From a local perspective, there will be events with Kells based Welsh poet, Nerys Williams and survivor of 'A Bang on The Ear', Phil Quinlan.
This year the history strand, Hindsight, will focus on the Decade of Centenaries with some of the country’s most prominent historians of the calibre of Catriona Crowe, Liz Gillis and Siobhra Aiken.
The relatively new owners of Rockfield House are encouraging visitors to wear period dress to a unique event on Saturday evening celebrating the life of novelist Maria Edgeworth. Edgeworth, was one of the most widely read novelists of the 19th century and greatly influenced the work of Jane Austen and was also a regular visitor to Rockfield during that time.
On the same evening, St Columba’s Church of Ireland provides a stunning backdrop to the music of Lisa Lambe as she brings her ‘NightVisiting’ project in conjunction with local musicians. It recreates our long lost tradition of gathering at the hearth of the rural house, to sing the old songs and tell the local stories.
On Sunday afternoon, columnist Fintan O’Toole will pay tribute to fellow journalist, the late Liam Cahill, in a memorial lecture which looks at the Drumree man’s life in trade unionism, journalism and politics.
Younger readers will also enjoy a programme of fun, interactive workshops with Irish writers and illustrators like Shane Hegarty ('The Shop of Impossible Ice Creams'), Alan Dunne ('The Great Irish History Book') and Ellen Ryan ('Girls Who Slay Monsters'). This year’s treasure hunt through the town is based on Enid Blyton’s Famous Five!
Smaller venues in the town will play host to Ireland’s only Litcrawl, where budding writers, artists and musicians get to showcase their work in a more intimate, casual setting. You might find yourself listening to an 'Idiot’s Guide to Democracy', the Civil War in Meath or some bit of live music session in O’Rorkes. All Litcrawl events are free, so the advice from organisers is to get in early.
Meanwhile, the Kells Type Trail, an annual festival celebrating typography and lettering as a modern art form, is this year celebrating the word 'Connect', as this is what arts, culture and heritage does. The TypeTrail map is available to view online at www.kellstypetrail.com or in local outlets.
LOCAL INTEREST
Thursday
FRIDAY
'1916: One Rising, many views' a talk with Liam McNiffe, Courthouse, 11am.
'Who killed Thomas Hodgett?' asks Ultan Courtney, Courthouse, 12.30pm.
SATURDAY
'There's Been a Little Incident', with Alice Ryan, Courthouse, 12.30pm.
'Little Republics, Jack Fitzsimons and Bungalow Bliss', Adrian Duncan, Courthouse, 3.30pm.
'Welcoming the Stranger', a panel discussion chaired by Dr Mary Coffey, Courthouse, 6.30pm.
Lisa Lambe, 'NightVisiting - songs and stories from the hearth', Church of Ireland, 8.30pm.
SUNDAY
'The rewilding of Dunsany Estate', with Randal Plunkett, Kells Theatre, 11am.
Liam Cahill, a tribute, by Fintan O'Toole, Church of Ireland, 2pm.
'The Vatican Pimpernel and My Father's House', Joseph O'Connor on Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, Church of Ireland, 5pm.
'And a Bang on the Ear', Philip Quinlan, Kells Theatre, 5pm.